Calming Anxiety | Guided Meditation, Sleep Hypnosis & Panic Attack Relief

The Messengers by Lord Dunsany — A Short, Poetic Fable for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off with The Messengers by Lord Dunsany, a short, lyrical and thought-provoking fable about the muses, their messengers and the people who will not listen, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

One wandering night, a man out chasing hares hears the high muses calling: "Take us a message to the golden town." He would far rather stay in the happy valleys, but the muses call him by name, again and again, until at last he goes to them. They give him a wreath of laurels carved from emeralds, as only the muses can carve, so the wise men of the golden town will know where he has come from.

 

Dressed in scarlet silks, he runs through the golden gateway crying his message. But the wise men sit cross-legged before their houses, reading from parchments an older message the muses sent long before, and they will not believe him. Still the muses do not rest, and still they send their messengers, until one day they call to the storyteller himself.

 

This classic short story for adults is a reflective wind-down for a busy mind, with Dunsany's rich, rhythmic, almost biblical prose and Martin's calm, unhurried narration. Like many of Dunsany's fables it carries a sharp, serious edge beneath its beauty, so it suits listeners who enjoy something to ponder as they drift towards sleep.

 

If you enjoyed it, you'll find more Lord Dunsany on Books at Bedtime, including Alone the Immortals, The Hen and The Return of the Exiles, all from the same collection.

 

The Messengers was first published in Fifty-One Tales (London: Elkin Mathews; New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1915). Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Try Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

Why Do I Jolt Awake When Falling Asleep? — Hypnic Jerk Sleep Meditation | Physiological Sigh & Sleep Affirmations

 

Why do I jolt awake when falling asleep? You're just beginning to drift off, your thoughts softening, the bed warm beneath you, and suddenly your body jumps. A falling sensation, a kick of the leg, a sudden twitch that brings you back to wakefulness wondering what just happened. This gentle guided sleep meditation helps you settle after a hypnic jerk or sleep start, without turning bedtime into something else you have to get right.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist Martin Hewlett. These sudden movements are common during the transition into sleep, and they can feel surprising when you were nearly asleep a moment before. For more guided meditations for sleep and anxiety, find Martin's Anchored app, with familiar Calming Anxiety sessions plus Books at Bedtime to keep you company as you unwind. On iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 and Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. And try Thole, Martin's new health app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

We begin with three small, gentle physiological sighs: a soft breath in through the nose, a tiny extra sip of air at the top, then an easy, unhurried breath out. Then we let the technique go, soften the forehead, shoulders and hands, and stop waiting for the next jolt. Five gentle sleep affirmations and three daily caring tips help you rest, and there's no need to stay awake until the end.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

* 00:00 – That sudden jolt as you drift off

* 00:26 – Why do I jolt awake when falling asleep?

* 00:44 – Welcome from Martin

* 00:55 – Getting comfy in bed

* 01:13 – What is a hypnic jerk or sleep start?

* 01:57 – Noticing where the body meets the bed

* 02:18 – Three gentle physiological sighs

* 03:40 – Returning to natural breathing

* 04:16 – Softening forehead, shoulders and hands

* 04:49 – Letting thoughts stay unfinished

* 05:04 – When you start waiting for the next jolt

* 05:37 – Five gentle sleep affirmations

* 06:49 – Drifting deeper

* 07:07 – Affirmations, once more

* 08:05 – Letting the words grow quieter

* 08:30 – Your 3 daily caring tips

* 09:22 – Drifting off, or gently returning

* 09:43 – Anchored and Books at Bedtime

* 10:01 – Share with someone who jolts awake

* 10:10 – Let the bed do the holding, and be kind

 

🌿 Tonight's Gentle Sleep Affirmations

Repeat each one quietly in your own mind, or simply listen:

* I can rest without forcing sleep.

* My body can settle at its own natural pace.

* I can meet a familiar sleep start with kindness.

* I do not need to monitor every moment of falling asleep.

* For now, I give myself permission to let go.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

1. Pause before checking the clock: If a familiar sleep start wakes you, give yourself a moment before checking the time. Feel the support beneath you and allow your breathing to find its own rhythm.

2. Practise rest without the goal of sleep: Tomorrow, give yourself a brief moment of rest without making sleep the goal. Sit comfortably, soften your hands, and practise letting a quiet moment be enough.

3. Talk to your GP if it keeps happening: If sleep starts keep disrupting your nights, make a note to speak to your GP or doctor during the day. You don't have to solve every sleep concern alone in the middle of the night.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

Let the next breath be ordinary, let the bed do the holding, and know you don't have to try any harder tonight. Keep Anchored by your bed for sleep sessions and Books at Bedtime:

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

For Martin's calming tips, visit https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Help test Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app. iPhone beta: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

If someone you care about has mentioned that sudden jump as they drift off, please share this session with them, and leave a 30-second review on Apple Podcasts.

 

Take care of yourself, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

Alone the Immortals by Lord Dunsany — A Short, Dreamlike Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off to sleep with Alone the Immortals by Lord Dunsany, a short, beautiful and deeply comforting prose poem about the years that have passed and where they go, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

The narrator has heard a rumour: that far away, beyond the deserts, in a country dedicated to winter, there is a hidden valley where all the years that have died are shut away, hidden from the world but not from the moon, nor from those who dream by its light. So he resolves to travel there by ways of dream, to mourn the good years that are gone and lay a wreath of sorrow at their feet.

 

But no flower seems frail enough for such an offering. The lily looks too large and the laurel too solemn, until at last he weaves a slender chain of daisies, the way he once saw a girl make one in a summer long ago. With his little wreath in hand, he follows paths of mystery to the moonlit valley, searching the grass for the poor, slight years he came to mourn. What he finds there is not at all what he expected.

 

This classic short story for adults is a gentle wind-down for a busy mind, with Dunsany's lyrical, dreamlike prose, a quietly consoling ending and Martin's calm, unhurried narration. It's a lovely, peaceful listen for anyone who finds themselves looking back on years gone by as they drift towards sleep.

 

If you enjoyed it, you'll find more Lord Dunsany on Books at Bedtime, including The Hen, A Moral Little Tale and The Return of the Exiles, all from the same collection.

 

Alone the Immortals was first published in Fifty-One Tales (London: Elkin Mathews; New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1915). Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Try Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

How to Calm Racing Thoughts — Guided Meditation for a Busy Mind | When Your Mind Won't Stop, Part 3 of 3

 

Finally stopped for a moment, but your thoughts are still moving? There's something to remember, something to finish, and another idea arriving before the last one has had time to settle. If you're wondering how to calm racing thoughts, you can begin here exactly as you are. There's no need to clear your mind before we start. This 10-minute guided meditation gives a busy mind somewhere to rest in the present.

 

This is the third and final session in When Your Mind Won't Stop, hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and paramedic of over 20 years Martin Hewlett. It works on its own, whether or not you've heard Part 1 on replaying conversations or Part 2 on overthinking the future. For support between episodes, Anchored is Martin's app for panic and anxiety, with guided sessions and a free, offline Instant Calm tool. Download on iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 and Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. And try Martin's new health app, Thole, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

There's no counting again today. We notice where the body is supported, follow the natural out-breath, soften the face, and gently acknowledge "my mind is planning" whenever the list-making starts. You'll learn to stop checking whether it's working, receive five gentle affirmations for a busy mind, and three daily caring tips.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

* 00:00 – Thoughts still moving when you stop?

* 00:31 – Welcome: When Your Mind Won't Stop, Part 3

* 00:48 – The series so far

* 01:07 – Finding your quiet place

* 01:25 – Noticing where you're supported

* 01:43 – No counting, just the out-breath

* 02:24 – Softening the face

* 03:03 – When your mind is making a list

* 03:34 – Writing down an important thought

* 04:14 – "Am I relaxed yet?"

* 04:37 – Sinking down with every out-breath

* 05:12 – Five gentle affirmations

* 06:27 – Simply be

* 06:50 – Affirmations, once more

* 07:44 – Floating between breaths

* 08:01 – Your 3 daily caring tips

* 09:01 – Gently returning to the room

* 09:41 – Looking back on the series

* 10:04 – Anchored and Instant Calm

* 10:22 – It's just me, helping you

* 10:36 – Smile often, and be kind

 

🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations

Repeat each one after Martin or simply listen. Let the words be an invitation:

* I can rest without making every thought disappear.

* I can leave an unfinished task for another moment.

* I am allowed to move at a gentler pace.

* I can bring my attention back with kindness.

* For this moment, I give myself permission to unwind.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

1. Give unfinished tasks a place outside your head: Write a short list, then choose what actually needs your attention next. If a task can wait, note when you'll return to it.

2. Try doing one ordinary thing at an unhurried pace: Make a drink without checking your phone. Walk to the window and notice the world outside. Finish one small activity before beginning another.

3. Make a little room between activity and rest: When you finish work or a demanding task, allow a brief transition. Put things away, stretch comfortably and sit quietly for a few minutes.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

Across these three sessions, we've made space to leave a past conversation behind, put down some worries about the future, and return to the life happening here. You can come back to them any time you want. Keep Anchored close:

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

Find out more at https://calminganxiety.org/anchored, and for Martin's calming tips visit https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Help test Thole, Martin's new app to get body and mind working together. iPhone beta here: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

"All of this is just me. There's no corporate backing, there's no sponsorship, it's just me helping you." If this series helped, please share it with someone whose mind won't stop, and leave a 30-second review on Apple Podcasts.

 

Have a lovely day, my friend. Truly. Smile often, positive thoughts whenever you can, and in absolutely everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

 

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

The Return of the Exiles by Lord Dunsany — A Short, Mysterious Bedtime Story at Stonehenge | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off with The Return of the Exiles by Lord Dunsany, a short, strange and haunting little tale set among the ancient stones of Stonehenge, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

Cycling across the English countryside one day, the narrator comes upon two very old men sitting by the roadside: one with a hammer and a blackened, hole-filled leather apron, the other with one eye and a spear. They seem shabby, humble and oddly apologetic. Touching his greasy cap, the one with the hammer asks the way to Stonehenge. "After all these years," they keep murmuring to each other, "we might just go back, just once."

 

The narrator points the way and rides on, but when he reaches the great stone circle himself, he finds a solemn group of about twenty men already waiting among the stones, as if expecting someone. And before long, the two strange old men come striding up the road. Who are they, and why have they been away so very long? Dunsany leaves just enough unsaid to set your imagination wandering as you drift towards sleep.

 

This classic short story for adults is a quietly eerie wind-down for a busy mind, with Dunsany's dreamlike, mythic prose, the timeless atmosphere of Stonehenge and Martin's calm, unhurried narration. It's ideal for anyone who loves old legends, folklore and a touch of mystery before sleep.

 

If you enjoyed it, you'll find more Lord Dunsany on Books at Bedtime, including The Hen and A Moral Little Tale, alongside classic stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and L.M. Montgomery.

 

The Return of the Exiles was first published in Fifty-One Tales (London: Elkin Mathews; New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1915). Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Try Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.